“Tread with Caution. Remember the old adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. ”

Comp & Benefits

Work/Life Balance

Senior Management

Culture & Values

Career Opportunities

Current Employee - Field in Warsaw, IN

Current Employee - Field in Warsaw, IN

I have been working at Zimmer full-time (more than 3 years)

Pros

Zimmer is a company which makes products that help millions of people live without pain. Staff below the management level are genuinely great people who believe in the mission of the company. They share a great sense of Midwestern pride and Midwestern hospitality. The environment among peers is congenial.

Cons

The leadership and culture are from an era gone by - conservative and fear based. Executives rule from above with their assigned parking and peer down from locked Ivory Towers and corporate jets while expenses are continually cut from the company. Zimmer focuses its entire attention on VPs who run the company like the Wild West - disconnected and protecting 'their turf.' Chain and command is alive and well at Zimmer. Innovation is actively discouraged and those who fall in line are rewarded. Turnover is high and the best managers leave quickly. You most likely will work for a manager who is left behind and lacks coaching and people skills.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

1. Cost continues to be a concern because unhappy employees lead to reduced productivity.2. Lack of communication is in itself a communication - it does not go unnoticed. Employees fill in the gaps and it kills every thread of connection to the mission3. Good people will always have somewhere to go. Lose the attitude that everyone wants to work at Zimmer and court your employees each and every day.4. Force rank your managers and remove those that are underperforming on people skills.5. What worked at GE does not work at Zimmer. Hire people who bring creative and original ideas not recycled content from thought leaders at an outside firm.

They have a strong P&L, but keep missing their unrealistic projections. Zimmer Dental is a small division that is forced to behave as if they are a large company. They have innovative products and a strong education program. So why are they in 5th place? WHy are they late to the game? Why the high employee turn over?

Cons

Poor upper management. High turnover in marketing and in sales. Three directors in two years. They are more concerned with short gains versus long term investment. The processes at Zimmer are truly unbelievable, unlike anything I have seen at even a large company let alone a small division. Because of this they are slow to innovate and when they do introduce a new product the launch is "half baked" at best. Internally, they will say that they will do a "soft launch" but it is really more of a gradual launch which means new products have no momentum. If you take a job at Zimmer make sure you do your homework and investigate the corporate culture carefully. Long hours + limited resources + unrealistic expectations + 50% travel = burnt out workforce. There is a huge employee morale problem here. I know of four people in my department looking for other jobs myself being one of them.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Work on the corporate culture. Break free of the chains of bureaucracy and focus on being quick to market. The resources are spent sending people traveling to so many tradeshows. Even support staff and temp workers are sent traveling. Examine how you spend your resources and look for ways to become efficient and quick. Zimmer is known for being late to the party. Great products but not an innovator. Small company behaving as if they were a large company.

Too Warsaw-centricNot diverse (ethnic, thought or cultural)Top-heavy; most leadership invisible to employees in their ivory towersNo real opportunity to influence changeGE is king; don't bring anything other than GE ideasNot all, but a lot of people in the town and the employees are just plain mean and rude. Period.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

*Get over yourselves. The new guy they brought on board recently to lead US Sales is the prototype. Follow his lead and loosen up.*Encourage more inclusion amongst employees.*Stop advertising you are a global employer when you are really just a Warsaw business that does business in other countries. There is a big difference. You are NOT global.*Diversify your leadership. It's the 'good ol boys club' right now.*Stop relocating people from outside of Indiana unless you change your infrastructure; it'll continue to be a waste of your time.*Get new HR leadership (SVP and VP). You're entire HR team will improve if you do; right now, most of them are dead weight and not effective at all.*Hold people accountable, from the top down.*Move your headquarters to a larger town. Leave Warsaw, it's killing your business.